Category Archives: sewing

The bib project – part 1

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Warning: The bib project posts (there will be a few) might contain descriptions of “matters emitted in an uncontrolled stream or flow through a baby’s mouth”. So if you are sensitive, please do not continue to read šŸ™‚

Developing the perfect bib seemed like an easy one day task but as it turns out, it is more complicated. And individual. And just as it is taking me lots of steps to develop the perfect bib (Is this even possible?), I will also split my thoughts into several posts rather than one epic unreadable one.

You might wonder why I am even bothering with what seems a boring thing to develop. It is obviously connected with my beautiful and clever baby boy. May I just say that he often reminds me of a young Shakespeare?

But back to the bibs. There are lots of different bibs out there and when you want to buy or make one, you’ll need to ask yourself a few questions first.

Who is that bib for?

Most likely a baby, possibly a toddler.

But a teething baby? A baby with reflux? A baby that has started on solids? A toddler who is already eating by himself?

What is that bib supposed to catch?

Nothing, just to look cool? A little bit of teething dribble? Or huge amounts of digested milk in various stages mixed with snot (I warned you)?

As you can see, lots of questions. For a baby who wants to look cool or even a teething dribbling baby you’ll be fine with one of those little triangular scarfs I have shown you last time.

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You could even go for a simpler version and just cut out a longish triangle and neaten the edges with a rolled hem. We own a few of these, but I can’t be bothered to look for them, let alone iron them into a presentable shape and take a picture of them for technical reasons I am unfortunately unable to show you pictures of one of these.

Now, I am obviously not interested in these standard bibs for the average baby (obviously there is no such thing as an average baby, they are all very special, I only mean average from the “amount of matter emitted through the mouth” point of view. I am interested in the perfect bib for a baby with reflux. (For those who don’t know what that means: The ring of muscle on top of the stomach can not close properly yet. Basically a baby with reflux is like a full glass of milk. If you move it or change its position from upright to horizontal said milk will be spilled. In most cases it is not a big deal, if the baby is putting on weight and not upset, then all you need is a good relationship with your washing machine and your dryer, lots of muslin squares, baby clothes and shirts for yourself. And the perfect bib.

You could ask why you’ll need a bib, you could just leave it, fresh milk doesn’t smell. Unfortunately, the clothes will get wet and eventually the baby will be really cold.

You could ask, why not just changing the baby. Well, babies do not like to get changed. Just picture a tired and cranky baby in the evening, nice fresh smell after the bath and in fresh clean clothes. You wrap a muslin square folded in half around his neck, you put him on your breast and another muslin square just under his face whilst wondering how he still manages to feed through so many layers of muslin. Then you put another muslin square over your shoulder and put the baby there to keep him in an upright position. He vomits and you wonder how the vomit still found its way through all these layers of muslin, right into the baby’s neck. His clothes are now wet, you know he will get cold but for now he is relaxed or even asleep. Are you really going to change him all over? No, you won’t. At least I won’t. And it is not neglecting refluxing child No 3. I just don’t want to wake a sleeping baby. So what can you do? I’ll tell you. You take a good quality tissue (you are looking for something strong yet soft to touch), you fold it in half, push one half in between the skin and the wet patch and the other half sticks out to make sure that even the wet edge of the sleep suit doesn’t come near this delicate skin. If you did it properly, it will look like an Elizabethan collar. Which brings us back to Shakespeare. Without the beard but wearing a cute teddy bear sleep suit. With this picture I’ll leave you for today. Next time we will look into some of my attempts using fabric rather than tissue. (More pictures less talking, promised)

 

 

Scrap Sunday: and yet another neck warmer

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I am really trying to post more often, I have so many exciting things going on. And a lovely babysitter which would normally allow me to sew, just sew, every Monday from 9 to 12.
So, I am very excited and started several projects at the same time: The BIB project (sounds like a new and upcoming indie pop band but really it is about creating the perfect bib before the young man outgrows his reflux), a little red riding hood costume with added welt pockets to practice welt pockets before making my own coat, the perfect breastfeeding top that is not a pregnancy-breastfeeding combo as I am NOT pregnant anymore and certainly do not want to look like it, a couple of baby presents for all these babies recently born, a knitted dress for my niece’s first birthday and a knitted cardigan for a 2 year old (an actual order!)
I should be able to finish all of them tomorrow between 9 and 12, no?
And I will write 500 posts about them in the next couple of days. To be ready for new projects next Monday.

But back to Scrap Sunday.
I was lucky enough to get my preordered copy of Kinderleicht! Naehen mit Jersey fuer Babys and Kids by Pauline Dohmen (klimperklein) a couple of weeks ago (oh, I almost forgot, you can add a babycoat to my list) and finally managed to make a little triangular scarf out of left over fabrics. It is very pretty. I didn’t intend to let Mr. Reflux wear it as it would be a waste, plus it is a bit unsuitable for our needs. But it is pretty and I kind of want to keep it for myself him.
So we will see. But I really made it to be teamed up with a little hat and to go to one of those new babies as a welcome present.
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IMG_4519As you can see, it is double sided and therefore reversible.Ā  And will make a perfect little baby present together with one of klimperkleins cute little hats, like these if you remember:

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I seem to not have shown you our current one yet, we are getting lots of compliments for this one. Also a proper Scrap Hat, actually:

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Scrap Sunday: Neck Sock

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Yes, a neck sock. Well, a neck warmer I guess, but when looking for ideas online, I discovered that the Germans call it apparently a “neck sock”.

Anyway, I wanted to make something for my lovely midwife and as she is a cyclist, I thought she might need something to keep her neck warm. Obviously I don’t do a simple neck sock made of a lovely fabric. So, I chose some fabrics that should remind her of all those lovely people around her. All these fabrics are left overs from clothes that I made for my children, her son, the sons of a very dear friend and you might also recognise my maternity shirt šŸ™‚

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Even I realised that this combination would not be wearable in some people’s eyes so I combined it with some grey sweat.Ā  I joined the squares in two sets of four and cut out four pieces following a pattern of olilu (I made it a few cm higher)

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To make it slightly more complicated and the grey side a bit more exciting, I added an orange edge, a bit like piping but without a cord. A little trick: to make sure that I could sew the sides together easily, I only started the piping 2cm from the edge.

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And voila: a smart grey neck warmer with a fancy orange edge….

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… and a crazy lining with lots of memories … IMG_4188

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And obviously you could wear the whole thing inside out as it is reversible.

I made two simpler ones for my children too. They obviously wear the colourful side outside and the boring sweat inside.

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They are really practical. Actually, they are great when you have a baby in the sling. It keeps your neck warm without anything too bulky hanging over the baby nose. I always borrow my husband’s one which I had made him for Christmas:

IMG_4430I do wear it grey side out though. I don’t want to be seen with such a boyish fabric fabric šŸ˜‰

And just for the record, I made him a hat, too. With the fabric that he had requested when he had seen the hat for my nephew…

IMG_4428perfect match, I know šŸ™‚

 

Scrap Sunday: A little something

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See, I told you I was going to post before the new year and none of you believed it!

I have a little something to show you. I made it out of the content of one of the advent calendar bags:

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But lets have a closer look:

IMG_4373A piece of polyester strap material, a pretty woven ribbon, a key ring and a strange clip thingy. At first, I wasn’t sure what this random selection of small pieces was all about but then I realised: A key fob! That’s what I was supposed to make. Well, the key ring was a pretty strong clue šŸ™‚

And the clever person I am I figured out all by myself how to do this. But as the person who has recently poured dry pasta into the bechamel sauce rather than into the pot with boiling water next to it, IĀ  confirmed with wise old internet before getting started.

And voila , five minutes later I had a beautiful key fob and a perfect little Christmas present to be sent to a friend in Italy:

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I am not sure if it is a very practical size for a key fob. It is quite long. But I was immediately thinking of something my mum had mentioned during her last visit: It is apparently getting more and more difficult to have a good individual marker on your luggage. All suitcases traveling round and round the conveyor belt at the airport seem to have red ribbons. So this fob might work quite well, maybe with a bigger ring to slide it around the handle.

Or it could work well as a wrist strap for a clutch. I was actually already trying to find these clip thingies but I don’t know how to even call them. And surprisingly ebay doesn’t know them as clip thingies.

I guess whilst the new year is still faaaaar away, lets not go crazy postingwise and I will just take the opportunity now to wish you all a “good slide into the new year” (That’s what we say in German before the 1st of January) :)!